14 DAY TRIAL // The process of elimination isn't exactly the most reliable method of figuring out if an unconfirmed rumor is true in the tech industry, or in any industry, but it's all we have to go on at the moment, in regard to IBM's latest plans.
There's no point in dragging it on, so we'll just throw it out there: IBM has decided to sell its entire chip business to someone else.
The corporation has two foundries. One produces 300 mm wafers and is currently manufacturing chips on the 22nm technology. It's the Building 323 facility in East Fishkill, New York.
The other facility, an older complex in Burlington, Vermont, is the corporation’s main semiconductor production location. It has a whole bunch of wafer fabs, photomask shops, and other operations.
Everything from PowerPC processors to silicon-germanium (SiGe) communication devices is made there.
All in all, IBM has a lot of property, employees and infrastructure to divest itself of, which means that there really can't be many potential buyers.
That's why TSMC (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company) and Intel were pegged as possible purchasers, and why the process of elimination works here.
The former is the top foundry on the planet, and the latter is the premier CPU designer and brand in the world.
So far, it's looking most likely that Intel will buy IBM's chip business, if only because it's the only one of the two that hasn't said anything on the matter.
TSMC has denied any plans of signing such a deal with IBM, according to Chinese site MyDrivers.com. But Intel hasn't done anything of the sort yet. Although, granted, it hasn't confirmed the possibility either.
Granted, Globafoundries might be fishing for a deal as well, or IBM might be fishing for a deal with it, but compared to TSMC and Intel, it's still a small fry.
Besides, Intel has been steadily setting up a client foundry business, instead of only making chips for itself. This deal with IBM would give those plans a very nice boost.